In a blink of an eye...

........yet another month has past by.

Autumn is fast approaching. There is a definite nip in the morning air and the evenings are drawing in. Everything is beginning to wind down. The hens are beginning to go into their annual moult and are laying fewer eggs. They are going to roost earlier each night and waking later each morning.

A few birds however are hanging onto the hope of an Indian summer and are broody. Despite my intention of ending this years breeding season with the hatch due in a couple of days I have decided to take advantage of one of the broody hens and do 'just one more hatch'.  - Welsummers.

The chicks hatched from the incubator a week ago are strong, healthy and full of life. Four have already gone to a new home to be cared for by a broody hen.

Photo: Latest arrivals one day old
 

 The 'Twenty Good Layers' have also been delivered to their new owner. They were the largest single 'hatch to order' of hens I have done this year. It proved to be quite a challenge as many of the early hatches were cockerel heavy but I was pleased with the finished flock and more importantly so was the customer.


Thoughts now are turning to plans for next year. As this years cockerels mature those showing promise are being selected as possible stock birds. Decisions are being made for new housing and new pens.

My biggest decision of all is whether to buy in a flock of utility laying hens to help meet the demand for fresh eggs. At present I keep a closed flock and have only traditional pure breed hens.
The hybrid flock would be kept separate from all the other groups and kept for laying purposes only.

A decision I have come to, somewhat reluctantly, is to sell my Gold Duckwing Welsummer stock cock. He is a smashing bird and has proved his worth over the last two breeding seasons producing many strong, healthy chicks with good markings and dark egg laying pullets. However next year I intend to use one of his sons and just don't have the room to keep too many cockerels.

Photo: Gold Duckwing Welsummer cock. 2011 hatch.

1st photo: Late 2011
2nd photo: August 2013

Weekends hatch

 A detailed update to follow but for now my photo (or 2) of the week - todays hatch 11 out of 11. Hatched under a broody Maran this weekend.

More eggs set

Yesterday I spent the day moving the young chicks into their new runs to free space in the poultry shed for another broody.

The cockerel to pullet ratio of chicks so far this year has certainly favoured cockerels, hence more hatching.

The Sussex chicks and the Partridge Welsummer chicks are now 4 1/2 weeks old and have been completely off heat since the weekend. Yesterday they were moved from the small 'A' frame ark in the garden to a larger house and run, within the pen the growers free range. They look so small in comparison to the 14 week old Barnevelders.

I believe all the Sussex chicks might be cockerels and only 2 of the 8 Welsummers are pullets. The Welsummers were to be the start of my new bloodline, so a little disappointing.

The Indian Game hen with her 6 Gold Duckwing Welsummer chicks, now 2 weeks old, have been moved into the ark in the garden and despite the frequent heavy showers are enjoying being outdoors. It is a little early for me to be confident of the sex of these chicks but I am hoping there will be a few females amongst them.

In the shed I now have a broody Maran sitting on 13 Gold Duckwing Welsummer eggs. She is a young hen and so far untried as a mother but she appears committed.

At the yard I have two broodies sitting on a mix of eggs from hens running with the Indian Game cockerel, these are purely for testing the fertility of the cockerel.

In the stable two more broodies are incubating turkey eggs. These eggs take a month rather than three weeks to hatch and both hens are doing an absolutely amazing job. Only a few more days to go.

If possible I would like to be able to fit in one more Exchequer Leghorn hatch before I call an end to this years breeding season.

Fertility and hatch rate has been very good, a few more pullets would have been nice.

Gold Duckwing Welsummer chicks

The latest additions to the flock - 6 Gold Duckwing Welsummer chicks.

The chicks hatched during the day Saturday and overnight into Sunday.

A little early to tell but they should be 50% / 50% Gold or Partridge in colouring. The one looking straight at the camera I have a feeling maybe a Gold pullet...I do hope so.

Yet again the hen is proving to be a great mum. Having already raised 4 broods she is now quite experienced.

(Click on images to enlarge)

21 Days

From this..... to this..... ..... in just 21 days.

(previous to me intruding with the camera they were all sleeping in the classic text book circle underneath the warmth of the lamp)

The chicks in the incubator have hatched and are now happily snuggled down in the brooder pen in the poultry shed.

It never ceases to amaze me that a instinct for survival and natural behaviour is there from the beginning; but no matter how much I enjoy watching the eggs hatch and caring for the chicks it still saddens me a little when I compare their lives to the chicks with the mother hen in a run just a few metres away.

4 weeks old

The chicks are just over 4 weeks old and at the weekend are off to their rightful home. I will miss them, they have been a pleasure to raise. I will however be returning with two 10/12 week old cuckoo maran pullets, layers of lovely dark brown eggs, so not so bad. I will also get to meet two 'virtual' chicken mad friends.

Photo: Chicks just over 4 weeks old. Tucking into Mum's feed

Chicks 3 weeks old

The latest hatch are now 3 weeks old and are beginning to show their individual personalities.

The young Barnvelder X cockerel is the most independent, preferring to scavenge for his own food and rarely coming to the call of food from his mother. Although he does respond instinctively to any warning cry from her.

Photo: Mr. Independent


The little Cream Legbar cockerel is quiet but adventurous. The other morning I found him on the outside of the run, having found and squeezed under the tiniest of gaps. When I opened the door he simply walked back in as if he had done it a dozen times before.

The remaining four Barnvelder and Barnebars stick together and are more often found close to the mother hen, either riding on her back or brooding amongst her feathers.

Photo: Discovering the delight of an apple


All six are extremely confident and friendly, happy to climb into the palm of any hand that offers food.

Although the weather has turned quite cold, it remains on the whole dry. The wet is much harder for the chicks to cope with than the cold and the mother hen is doing a fine job of brooding them.

Photo: Fluffed up for warmth, protection from the cold wind.

Poultry round up

A quick update on the poultry.

The latest hatch are now a week old and with the glorious weather at the weekend they ventured outside. Full of excitement they spent the day racing around exploring their new world, ignoring the hen's desperate effort to bring them to order by calling them to food..


The youngest Exchequer Leghorn chicks are 14 weeks old and are enjoying their extra space. They are constantly on the go foraging for food and are confident in the presence of the older birds.

Photo: 1. Exchequer Leghorn 14 weeks.



2. Exchequer Leghorn 29 weeks ( sadly a poor example who will be kept for laying purposes only)



3. Exchequer Leghorns enjoying the sun dust bathing



At 21 weeks the pullets of the first batch of table birds are getting close to lay. They are exceptionally friendly birds and I am tempted to keep them as extra layers, for now at least, as the demand for eggs is greater than I can supply.

Chicks - photos

The chicks have hatched.
Mid morning on Saturday the hen had taken her chicks off the nest. She had left behind a pipped but unhatched egg. It is unusual for a hen to leave the nest if an egg is actually pipping so I guess she knew, for whatever reason the chick had died.
Although the photo only shows five chicks we do have six, a little Cream Legbar boy is just out of shot.
So from the nine set we have six lovely sturdy chicks. 2 Barnevelders, 2 Barnebars, 1 Barnevelder over Barred Rock and 1 Cream Legbar.
The mother hen is very attentive to her chicks but more than happy for us to handle them and already a couple are feeding from my hand.
For now they are still in the poultry shed as the forecast for the next few days is heavy rain. As soon as the weather improves they can go into the A framed ark on the grass.

Photo: On the right the little Cream Legbar boy, so small in comparison to his hatch mates


All six

Eggs Hatching

The eggs under the Indian Game broody are hatching. Yesterday evening I could hear peeping and this morning the hen was sitting in a more upright position, gently clucking. It is far too early to tell which or how many eggs have or are hatching but there is the broken shell of an egg from a Barred Rock hen to a Barnvelder cockerel, visible. Hopefully a cockerel.

Maybe if they have all hatched by the morning I will know more. For now patience.


Photo: Waiting game

Hatching Eggs

This morning a dozen hatching eggs arrived through the post, a mix of Cream Legbar, Barnevelders, Barnebars and Barnvelder cross Barred Rock. Tomorrow I will set them under the Indian Game broody.

I know I said no more hatches this year, but I am hatching these on behalf of a friend. I have the accommodation and space for a broody and her chicks for the first couple of weeks. Once they outgrow the broody pen they will be returned.

It will be interesting to hatch different breeds, to observe any difference in behaviour, growth etc. Also it will of course be lovely to have chicks again, if only for a short while.
There is something very special about a mother hen with her brood.

Poultry pen progress

Saturday was the hottest day, so far this year. Certainly not the weather to be wood preserving the 'new' chicken house inside and out during the warmest part of the day, but for some bizarre reason I was. We really need to get the house and poultry pen ready for moving the growers next weekend, so carried on regardless of the heat. Yesterday the fumes and heat had taken their toll, I failed to achieve all I had hope to.

The poultry pen however, is now completely fenced. We will run the sheep on the grass for a day to top it and firm the ground and then if we have the rain which is forecast for the end of the week the ground should be ready to move the hens onto. With their old run free we will be able to reseed and rest it before moving the Exchequer Leghorns. The growers are going to occupy Fred's area- yet more fencing!

Each evening I have been letting the 6 week old chicks out of their pen to range with the growers. They have thoroughly enjoyed the freedom, but I'm reluctant to let them free range quite yet as we have so many corvids and buzzards about. Their 'mother' the Indian Game is more than ready to be parted from her chicks. On the first evening of being out rather than roost with her chicks she chose to join the growers in the main house, so tomorrow she will be placed back with her flock.

Chicks and poults - photo update

The turkey poults are now just over a week old. I am so pleased the hen took to them, it is so much nicer than an artificial brooder. The poults are very bold and friendly and trying to clean the pen and feed them without any escaping is becoming more challenging by the day. Another week and they will probably be big enough to move to the stable


The Exchequer Leghorn chicks are 3 weeks old. They are feathering up well but are still very dependent on the mother hen for guidance and are still brooded by her for a surprising amount of time considering the warm weather. They frequently ride on her back. In a couple of weeks time they will go into a bigger pen, when we have yet another poultry 'move around'.



The mixed group of chicks hatched by the Indian Game, at 6 weeks are at the 'scruffy' stage, looking at times like little vultures. The cock birds amongst them are beginning to spar and although still attentive I feel the mother hen wouldn't object too strongly if I separated her from them. I am just waiting for the chicks to grow a little more so they are less likely to fall prey to any corvid.


At 10 weeks old the mixed flock of table birds and Welsummers are doing really well, lively, bright and everything I could ask for. A couple are already standing out to be promising birds. As soon as the new area at the yard is fenced and their new home renovated they will be moved on. The table birds amongst them will be moved at a later date into their own pen. I will select between four and six of the Welsummer pullets to add to my flock, the rest I will try to sell.



Photo: 10 week old Gold Duckwing Welsummer


Finally the very first chick of this year to hatch, back in February, a Exchequer Leghorn pullet now 18 weeks old and not too far off laying.

A poultry keeper in the making

I used to child mind, but most of 'my' children have grown up now, some even have babies of their own. However last week I was asked to meet one of the youngest children from school just for an hour or so until his mother could collect him.

We had a lovely time, watching the turkeys hatch, the young Exchequer Leghorns ride on the hens back and just generally talking poultry.

He lives on a smallholding and his mother is a vet so he is very familiar with livestock. He is a bright child and knows everything that is happening at his place and asks quite thought provoking questions, so when he told me about his Araucana being broody but how she wouldn't have chicks as they no longer had a cockerel I offered him some fertile eggs.( only as I knew his mother would be OK with it)

Rather than say yes immediately he became quite thoughtful.

"We would need eggs from layers .. he said (he knows I also keep a meat flock)

Also I would need to think where I could put her, I don't want her bothered by the others.

The chicks would need a run so the rats can't get them.

I'll ask Mum."

So when his mother came she agreed, as long as he could plan how to make a new house and run, with his Dad's help. He would phone me at the weekend.

Still with his head creased in a frown but his eyes bright he said..

" What is the best way to keep her broody until then ?"

" She isn't very big so we will only need a few eggs ...maybe 5 "

I promised I would save him some ' just in case'

Yesterday evening I had a phone call to say the house is made and yes please could he have some eggs and collect them after school today.

So I have a box of Welsummer eggs waiting for him. I just hope they are fertile and hatch successfully.

I think I will be more anxious about these than any of my own.

Fostering poults onto a broody

Against all the odds all the turkey eggs hatched and just in the nick of time a hen went broody. Not any hen but my tried and trusted Speckled Sussex.( Not to be confused with the other Speckled Sussex who was the original broody for this clutch of eggs, but who decided the prospect of motherhood was too daunting and abandoned the eggs with 16 days to go.)

Fostering the poults would be the ideal outcome for all involved, my only concern was the hen had only gone broody on the Tuesday, the eggs started to hatch on the Wednesday. I feared it might be too soon for her to accept them, but I had nothing to loose.

We brought the hen home and settled her in the poultry shed on a couple of china eggs. On Thursday morning we placed the three eldest poults under her. Keeping them as quiet as possible and hidden in our hands we sneaked them in from the back. She immediately snuggled them in, growling a warning to us that she had chicks and we were intruding.

I didn't remove the china eggs as I was hoping she would sit tight until the other eggs in the incubator hatched

I left her in peace for a very long half hour and then went to check all was well, convinced I would find three tiny dead bodies. Instead in the poultry shed was one very proud mother hen. A couple of hours later I added another poult and finally in the evening the last two to hatch. She accepted them all, with the now familiar ruffle of feathers and the 'go away' growl. After placing the last two poults under her I removed the china eggs in the hope that she would now tend to her brood rather than continue to sit.

This morning she is still brooding them but was tempted to leave the nest for a feed, giving me the opportunity to see 6 very alive and bright turkey poults.



I can't believe we have 'got away with it', but turkeys being turkeys anything can happen between now and Christmas.

Turkey eggs hatching - update

We now have four turkey chicks (poults) with the two remaining eggs pipping. If they successfully hatch it will 6 out of 6, amazing considering all they have been through.

At 11.30 pm yesterday the egg that had been pipping since midday was beginning to make headway and the other not too far behind. By 4.30 am today both had hatched and the two remaining eggs had cracks in them.

At 7.00 am we placed the three eldest chicks under the broody, leaving the youngest in the incubator to dry out a little more, to become stronger and also to encourage the remaining two to hatch.

.......more to follow

9.15 am 5th egg hatched.. 4 white 1 bronze

1 egg remaining, should be a bronze

10. 15 am 4th chick under broody..no sign of any dead bodies so fingers crossed she has accepted them.

12.00 Final chick hatched, so 100% not the mix of Bronze and Whites I thought I had purchased but that's not too important. final count 5 whites 1 bronze.

All I have to do now is keep them alive.

Turkey eggs - trials and tribulations

In the incubator I have two very tired and very wobbly turkey chicks, two of the eggs have hatched ! A bronze and a white, hopefully the remaining four will follow shortly. Although their due date is Thursday.

It is amazing any have hatched at all. The eggs were bought on ebay from a seller in Scotland and although extremely well packed three of the eggs had irregular shaped air sacs, suggesting possible rupturing. Interestingly it is two of these eggs that have hatched and the third appears to be the next egg to do so.

When the eggs arrived we placed them under a broody hen. For twelve days she was the model broody and then one weekend she decided she had had enough and left the eggs to go cold. We quickly placed them in the incubator, we had nothing to loose.

On day 24, with four days left to hatching I stopped the automatic turner on the incubator and added water to the tray to increase the humidity, alarmingly the temperature soared. It finally steadied - 2 degrees higher than required for several hours. All I could do was cross my fingers and wait.

Last night about 10 pm two of the eggs had a very small crack in them, this morning at 6.15 am the first little white chick hatched, followed at 6.45 am by the little bronze chick.
Now I am waiting for the rest.

My next dilemma is what to do with the chicks, as yesterday another hen went broody. I have brought her home and settled her into the poultry shed on a nest of china eggs. I do wonder, however, if trying to foster the chicks onto her so soon is pushing my luck with these eggs one step too far.


12 pm two more pipping.
8.30pm agonisingly slow progress- no more hatches 1 of the two has increased the size of the hole so you can see the chick but a long way from hatching.The second little or no progress. Third pipping.

Tomorrow I will need to remove the first two to hatch...where is fast becoming a problem.

Fresh air and sunshine

Photo: Finally fresh air and sunshine



One week old today, the Exchequer Leghorn chicks are finally out on the grass. If they are with a broody hen the chicks would normally go outside within the first couple of days, but heavy thundery showers had been forecast for the week. Also by keeping them in the poultry shed I was able to handle them more, they are known to be quite a flighty breed and I want them to be comfortable in my presence.

The mother hen is a feisty Mama and didn't take being separated from her young, albeit for a matter of seconds, quietly. I'm sure the neighbours must of thought I was doing her more harm than just moving her a few feet to her new home.

Once reunited with her chicks she quickly set about introducing them to the delights of grass, reassured them of the sounds of the outside world and warned the growers not to come too close to her brood. She also carefully positioned herself between them and me, just in case I had thoughts of removing them again.

Photo: Keeping her chicks at a distance


The poultry shed has been cleaned and disinfected ready, just in case any turkey chicks hatch next week.

Chick update - photos

The Exchequer Leghorn chicks are already 4 days old, I have kept them indoors for now as the past couple of days have been quite wet. They will need to be moved by the weekend as I will need to clean the shed in readiness for any turkeys that may hatch. I candled the turkey eggs again yesterday and think they may still be developing, although there are three whose air sacs have an irregular shape. It has been a good result with the Leghorn chicks, with only two possibly three cockerels amongst them.

Photo: Exchequer Leghorn chicks 6 days old.The two darkest in the middle are most likely cockerels.


The chicks from the previous hatchings are doing well and are now three and eight weeks old. The nine, three week old chicks are all crossed with an Indian game cockerel and are destined for the table, apart from the three pure Indian Game. They are feathering up much faster than the others and look good, strong healthy chicks.

Photos: (click on image to enlarge)
Top photo:
Indian Game hen with 9, 3 week old chicks. All from an Indian Game cockerel.
The 3 balck ones are from either Australorp or Welsh black hens.
The 3 white or white mix are from an Ixworth hen
The remaining 3 (although only 2 are in the photo) are pure IG


Bottom photo:
The 2 chicks in the foreground are Ixworth cross the 3 at the back are pure Indian Game



The 18 , 8 week old chicks are a mixed flock both in breed and in hatchings. 6 are from the clutch of eggs hatched by the Speckled Sussex, 2 of which are table birds from the Indian Game cockerel, of the remaining Welsummer chicks there are 3 partridge cockerels and a Gold Duckwing cockerel. The rest of the group are chicks hatched in the incubator, 4 table birds and 8 Welsummer pullets ( a mix of partridge and Gold Duckwing )

Photo 1 : L -Indian game cross Ixworth chick 8 weeks. R- Gold duckwing Welsummer cockerel 8 weeks


Photo 2 : Gold duckwing Welsummer pullet 8 weeks


Photo 3 : Partridge Welsummer cockerel 8 weeks

Exchequer Leghorn chicks 1st photo

Not very clear ... but my first sighting of the new arrivals. I haven't seen all the chicks yet, the hen is being a very good mother and keeping them safe from danger, but all 8 have hatched. She has left the nest and is brooding them in the center of the pen. Before she heard me coming and called them to her a few were eating and drinking, so it looks as if all may be well.



If the weather stays fine over the next couple of days I will transfer her to the A frame ark. Grass, fresh air and exercise works wonders.